Freitag, 28. Dezember 2012

in this post I would like to reveal my first impressions. I'm sure this is the same thing what you have already experienced or will experience.

First impressions of the (first) package content: cheap, low quality and won't last long. But I have to admit that many parts are better than I thougth, e.g. the ventilator (which is very quiet). But to keep this post clear, I'm not going to tell you the details. This post should be more about the machine.

After the hard and exhausting unpacking I could hold the machine in my hands for the first time (not really in my hands because this thing is huge and weights around 20 kg). It is made of solid steel sheet and the case seems to be well processed. The mechanics don't look cheap and the rails and bars inside are also as solid as they should be.

After you turn on the machine you will soon notice that the motors are one of the cheapest. They make noise and strange sounds. If you have already worked with other laser cutting machines you know that they are very silent. Unfortunately the cheap sounding system adulterated the image of the machine.

Now the safety, and this is what has shocked me the most.

First of all, it has to be said that my father is safety engineer. He is more specialized on chemistry, but has also attended many laser safety trainings. I would like to list up some very dangerous thing or things, where the manufacturer has violated important international safety laws.

There is absolutely no certification of conformity on the machine, on the water pump or on the ventilator. In the item description, the reseller promised FDA, CE and ISO9001 compliance. You can't find a sticker or something like that on the machine. Just in case you find something like that on your machine, it's 100% fake. You can read below why this machines would never pass a european customs inspection.

The machine has not a single safety switch. You can operate the machine whenever you want, you don't need to close it. This is the most dangerous thing about this machine because you can't see the laser beam. The laser beam is directed to the lens by multiple reflection mirrors. If you accidentally put your hand into the beam while the machine is running, you risk burning your hand which can become a serious lifelong disability. Even the reflected laser radiation could be a problem. In most cases the laser beam is reflected when it hits the metal of the machine. The reflected rays are so scattered that they can't really damage anything around. But in some cases it could happen that some "concentrated" rays reach your eyes. Your retina starts boiling and you can become blind. The plastic glass on the cover plate absorbs the dangerous rays. Furthermore, you can easily open the cover to the power supply. There voltages between 24V and some kilovolts occur. Touching parts while the machine isn't separated from the power source can cause a fatal electric shock.

No emergency shut-off

No laser radiation warning (on the whole machine there is no label that warns you against laser radiation). There is a sticker missing that declares the laser class (this machine has laser class 4).

There are more minor things I could list up. My father is sure that the machines were imported illegally and must be destroyed when they are discovered. I don't know what happens if public authorities check the machine and what effects it could have for you. But be aware of that. At least, don't try to use this machine in a business. This could be rated as violation of working safety laws!

Mittwoch, 26. Dezember 2012

Unboxing

The laser
was delivered in two parcels. One with the main machine and another one with the
accessories. Both were big packets wrapped in yellow adhesive foil. In the
inside there was so much bubble wrap or foam material that Felix Baumgartner
would have survived inside it without a parachute. Really :). That's positive,
but it took me a whole car to get rid of it. And then there was the ugly smell
of cheap plastic - I hope I don't get cancer after I have breathed this.

Both parcels arrived two days after I ordered it, even though the seller specified the delivery from 3 to 12 days. That's because the machines luckily don't come directly from China. They are stored in England so the shipping to the consumer is faster.

On the following pictures, you can see the content of the package with the accessories.

The manual is very lousy and inaccurate. You can't recognize many pictures and they often describe different hardware. I put that thing away, it hasn't helped me yet. By the way, it's written in English.

The USB dongle is like a memory stick that saves the preferences of Moshidraw and it's also a kind of "serial number" for the software, because the programm is only running when the USB key is inserted. That's weird.

The exhaust pipe was bent terribly. In the middle of it, it's damaged. It already has small holes and you can't bend it back to one compact, straight pipe. It also was very dirty. Maybe you can see the mud splashes on the pictures. Thanks, that's ugly.

The power and USB cables have been wrapped in a lot of bubble wrap. Don't ask me why- it's just crazy. The USB cable is 3m long. That's really good. The power plug is around 1,5m long and can be replaced by a standart European plug like you know it from your computer (not laptop) power supply.

The ventilator is quiet and has a high airflow rate. It's absolutely enough for this machine.

The water pump is an immersion pump. Feel free to throw it into the water :)

On the bottom right you can see a tube of "silicone adhesive sealant". I don't know why you need this, I also can't decrypt the chinese writing.

That was the first package, let's have a look at the package with the main machine!

This is huge! You can see the thick layers of bubble wrap. I needed an army knife to get through the layers. The wrap had the typical plastic smell. You should better do this outside or in a good ventilated room!

This was my first "real" post, more are following. I think the next will be about my first impressions.

Feel free to leave a good comment and share this blog! Enjoy the last days of this year!

First Post

Hi guys,

welcome to my (inofficial) blog about the DC- K40 laser engraving machine.
First of all, i have to apologize for my poor English. In my first post, I would like to introduce myself and tell you the reasons and aims for this blog.

Who am I?

I am a young student from southern Germany. I'm graduating soon and I want to go to university afterwards to become an engineer. I have built technical stuff since i am very young, because my father has a good workshop and has had an own laboratory for chemistry and electrical stuff. I come from a rather small city (27k inhabitants) with a lot of high-tech industry. My city has more jobs than inhabitants and one of the biggest German automobile producers has a huge production plant witch research and education facilities here. More about that afterwards.

Why have I bought this laser?

Some of the companies in my surrounding offer a kind of hands-on training for young people like me. So I took the opportunity to take part in a workshop about CNC machines. There I learned the programming and handling of really big CNC- machines, what was very interesting. But more interesting was the experience with a laser cutting and engraving machine they had there (that was an i.Laser 4000, approx. 44k€). Our instructor allowed me working with that thing and this was so impressive, that I soon worked more with the laser than with the CNC machines (and I am very, very thankful to the instructor!!)

But when the workshop was over, I still have had many great ideas. I wanted my own laser cutter, but I always thought they were really expensive. Someday, I searched on eBay for a cheap laser cutter and -surprisingly- found the very interesting offer: 40W laser cutting and engraving machine, 650€, USB Port, but from a Chinese manufacturer.

After many hours of web research on this machine, I just bought it. It was not an easy decision, because some people described the laser as "nightmare" or even "catastrophe". But the seller promised superior quality, best customer support and a long return gurantee. I didn't believe all of this, but I thought: "There is not really much you could do wrong for this price, I pay via PayPal and on Youtube you can see these machines running perfectly."

I have the lase now for a few days.

My aims for this blog

My goal is to help you with your decisions, if you are deciding to buy the same machine.

I will share samples and projects in as many file formats as possible. I work with CorelDraw x4 so i plan to upload .cdr files, but also Moshidraw files and PNG or BMP pictures.

I will report any problems I have with this machine. And of course how I could fix them.

If you need help, you can ask me. But please keep in mind, that I have not much spare time and it's hard to keep a blog up to date. Please google your problem first, try it on your own or contact the seller first (they are very polite and helpful!)

I am writing this blog in English, so the whole world can read it. It's not my mother tongue and I'm sure you have already noticed this :). Furthermore, it's a good writing training for me.

What you can do

Of course you are allowed to check my spelling and grammar mistakes :). Leave some good comments and share this blog! Remember that this is only the beginning of the blog and that more content will follow soon.